I want to share an observation I heard by Alistair Begg, he's talking about the book of James, written by the brother of Jesus.
James 1:1
"James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."
- To begin with its important to notice what James doesn't say in his introduction. Why doesn't James lead the discussion by saying this is "James, the brother of Jesus!" Iono about you, but if i was James, i would definitely throw into my intro "oh yea, by the way, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, yea....he's my bro..." Instead, James says, "this is James, a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."
- Alistair states "James understood that the wonder of the relationship with Jesus didn't lie in the fact of them sharing the same birth mother, it was not a natural relationship that caused James to marvel, it was the miracle of God's goodness to him, in opening his eyes to understand that Jesus was the person he declared himself to be."
Notice what James says instead. A servant...of the Lord Jesus Christ. If your a servant of Jesus Christ, thats a big deal. Ultimately, our best piece on our resume is this, Patrick*, Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Through all earthly accomplishments, titles, and recognitions, we will never have a title greater than "______ ,A servant of the Lord Jesus Christ." I think James the brother of Jesus, understood this. *By the way, in John 7, John states that the brothers of Jesus (including James) didn't even believe in him. How amazing a turn around.
If I wrote a letter to you today, introducing myself i'd start it off as "Patrick, UCI Graduate, Psych and Crim Major, Talbot Seminary Student, Korean American, etc etc. But that would be wrong. Thats all rubbish compared to, Patrick, servant of God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to be melted by this idea. Marvel at my relationship with Christ.
I'm a horrible servant. But i'll keep trying. I know what my identity is, I just need to work it out. Thank God for grace.
Marvel at this idea. Work out its implications.
Where AI Fails
14 hours ago
4 comments:
I know we had car ride, dinner, library to talk about this stuff...but I really appreciate your blog. I guess (since this is not facebook)..i'll be more serious. =) Last night during my time with God....He reminded me of this too..the exact thing you wrote about in your blog. All I could do was shed my tears...mostly because of the radical love and grace God has...& because I was able to be so confident in my identity is in Christ. That's all that really matters. Thanks for the reminder Patcho. You're not too bad afterall~
hey patrick, thanks for this great reminder. God's calling for us is so high, it's pretty daunting if you think about it. To be viewed as a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ... good thing it's not us at all, and it's all God's grace, huh? It's definitely not evident in my actions, but it's amazing that He even gives us opportunities to serve Him. I have always remind myself that He doesn't need me to serve Him, but He allows me to serve Him, all through His grace. =) Keep your posts coming~
i love u
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